The Ring
by star123
Summary: (Sequel to The Ultimatum(Chapter 4 18.01.05) Forget creepy girls climbing out of wells true love is much, much scarier! It's five years after Ginny and Draco broke all the rules and got together. But now Ginny is engaged to Dean and Draco's reemergence is
1. Nightmares do Come True

Chapter 1- Nightmares do Come True

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Hello again! Well finally I have got my act together and started writing the sequel to The Ultimatum, I've missed this story whilst I've been dealing with that little thing called reality but I am now on holiday until February so I have the time to write it. I don't think you need to have read the first one for this to make sense but it might be a good idea none the less.

Disclaimer: I got sick of constantly writing these last time so take heed that this disclaimer applies to the entire story. I own none of the rights of Harry Potter, you can take that whole milarky up with JK and WB. I simply like to write about the characters and I am in no way am under the delusion that I actually invented them.

Forward to the story!

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Last night she'd dreamt she went to Hogwarts again.

Many of her old friends had drifted back and forth into focus in her dream discussing issues that had affected her so long ago but one person stayed in focus beside her the whole time. A person she wasn't supposed to remember at all. Perhaps when your conscious self tries so hard to forget someone the sub-conscious feels it has to pick up the slack and introduces them into your dreams as often as possible.

Waking up she found herself believing she was back in the hallowed halls of Hogwarts but, as had happened many nights before, reality crashed down on her and she bit into her pillow to stop herself howling out in misery. Only at night would she let herself do this, only at night would a little part of her deep down manage to scramble to the surface and yell until it's little voice was sore. During the day time the voice didn't have a hope of being heard but when darkness enveloped her Ginny was at its mercy.

* * *

Ginny grabbed her jacket and spun around trying to find her bag.

"Late, late, late, late." She chanted to herself in an undertone. She eventually located her bag and, looking inside, checked that all the stuff she needed for work was there. Seeing that her diary was missing she dropped her bag again and raced into her bedroom. It was lying on the floor by her bed where she'd been double checking her appointments for the next day before going to sleep. She snatched it up and, going back into her lounge room, shoved it in her bag.

"Okay, I'm ready!" she grabbed a pot of floo powder off the mantle piece and was about to transport herself to Diagon Alley when she heard a soft noise and theatrically slapped a hand to her forehead.

"Oh sweetie, I almost forgot you!" she cried scooping up the baby and balancing him on her hip. "Come Mr Jemmy Thomas we are hideously late...again."

She grabbed a pinch of floo powder and threw it into the fire shouting "Diagon Alley!" as she stepped into the gently tickling flames. As she whizzed along she kept track of the fireplaces and when she saw the one she needed she flung herself forward. Tumbling out of the fireplace Ginny just managed to catch herself before she fell over taking Jemmy with her. The baby looked up at her with wide brown eyes and then gave a little sneeze which made her smile.

"Little bit of soot?" she asked wiping some grey smut off his tiny, upturned nose.

"Ginny Weasley, late again?"

Ginny grinned as she turned around, "So it would appear Harry, are you going to tell my boss on me?"

Harry Potter pretended to consider for a moment and Ginny added, "Because if you do I'll have to point out to him that you're hanging around here yet again trying to pick up little tidbits of classified information. Honestly Harry, I hate to burst your bubble but you don't actually work here!"

"My job is protect you all. I need to know what's going on in the world. Us Aurors cannot simply rely on our fantastic intuition to know where there's trouble. I have diplomatic immunity." He said drawing himself up to his full height and looking down at her with his brilliant green eyes.

"Not from me, you don't!" A voice suddenly boomed from behind him and Harry spun around guiltily.

"Oh come on Colgan you know this office just wouldn't be the same without me." He replied cheekily although Ginny could tell he was feeling a little intimidated by her huge boss.

"Yes, maybe my writers would actually get some work done!" Colgan bellowed, "And it's Mr Theron to you, you may have defeated Voldemort but in this office my word is law and I'd thank you to remember that Mr Potter!"

Harry shrugged, "Alright Mr Theron, I'll pop back in later then. Bye Gin." And with a slight pop he disapparated leaving Ginny to face her red-faced boss.

"The Daily Prophet does not run on your schedule Miss Weasley!" he said sternly steering her towards his office, "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times getting here on time is easy. Just get up earlier!"

Ginny nodded, her eyes downcast. "I'm sorry Mr Theron but with Jemmy here..." she indicated the baby on her hip with her head and Colgan's eyes softened slightly.

"And how is the wee lad this morning?" he asked fondly taking the baby off her and swinging him around so the little boy squealed with laughter. Ginny's boss set him down on his large table and handed him a roll of spellotape to play with.

"He seems fine but I can tell he's missing Dean, so am I come to that." Ginny sighed,

"Couldn't be helped Miss Weasley." Colgan said brusquely, "Dean's job is to go where I send him and he is by far the best photographer I have so I couldn't have anyone but him go to snap the signing of the giants-wizardkind pact."

Ginny slumped down into the chair in front of his desk and began to try and disentangle Jemmy who had managed to spellotape his hands and feet together and was rocking backwards and forwards in some distress.

"Yeah I know." She said feeling a flash of pride as he called her fiancé his best photographer. "So what do you want me for?"

Colgan sat on the big leather seat where he spent most of his day. "What are your plans for today?" he asked.

"Well," Ginny flipped open her diary and notebook and bit her lip, going into professional mode. "I have a meeting with the minister for magic at 1 to discuss the implications of assigning counselor wizards at Azkaban and whether this is the start of a new, softer, age for the prison. And then at 3 I'm going to snoop around backstage of the Fateless Kneazles concert and see if I can score an interview." She grinned wickedly, "They've never given one before but I was once told I could charm a boggart into turning into the thing I like the most so I thought I'd give it a go." Ginny shut her diary and notepad and smiled at her boss.

"But apart from that I'm going to be in the office writing up the report I began yesterday on the fad for children to have dangerous plants as pets." She'd really enjoyed researching that one as she had got to visit Neville Longbottom who was now an expert in herbology and, amongst other things, ran a chain of shops selling unusual plants although, he assured her, he never sold anything dangerous to minors. He had been very helpful in explaining the new culture of having plants rather than pets and they had chatted for several hours over a large pot of tea.

She was brought back to the present by Colgan's deep voice beginning to talk again.

"Well done Miss Weasley I have been very impressed with your work here ever since you started as an assistant. You gone up the ranks faster than I think I've ever seen anyone do because your wit and vibrant writing style draws readers to you. This is why I'm going to assign a very difficult case to you."

Ginny sat up straighter glowing with pleasure at his words and eager to learn about the case he was referring to. "Go on!" she said enthusiastically.

"I've had handed to me some very interesting information about one of the most prominent businesses in our wizarding society. A file from Gringotts bank was sent to me by the head goblin detailing a secret room in the London complex. This room was the ultra secure vault where extremely precious, some might even say priceless, items were magically banished to in the period between 1750 and 1810. After this time knowledge about how to banish items to this ridiculously protected room and how to find the vault at all was destroyed and erased from employee memories. All except this one file it seems. Now if this room could be found the story would be huge, wizarding artifacts from all over the globe are stored there as well as some exquisite jewelry with most interesting properties."

Ginny's eyes were almost popping out of her head by this stage and she could barely contain her excitement.

"And you want _me _cover this file?!" she asked her heart almost jumping out of her chest.

"No, I just wanted to dangle it in front of your face and then take it cruelly away." He snapped.

Ginny gaped. She was fairly sure that her boss was joking, but with Colgan you could never be quite sure.

"Of course I'm giving it to you Miss Weasley!" he bellowed.

Jemmy squeaked and his face crumpled like he was about to cry. Ginny hurriedly shushed him and then grinned at her boss.

"I ...well I...don't know what to say." She stammered

"For such a good writer you seem to spend large amounts of your time being fairly inarticulate Miss Weasley. Look, the representative from Gringotts bank is waiting in your office, he has studied the file carefully and I personally believe that he holds information which could be integral to finding this secret room. You and he are to work together until you find this room, understood? Go, introduce yourself and then get on with cracking this thing. I want you and him to devote all your time onto this project, forget everything else, it's unimportant in comparison." He dismissed her with a wave of his hand and Ginny, scooping Jemmy up with her, fairly skipped from the room.

"Oh Heather!" she called out as she caught sight of one of the apprentices the Daily Prophet had taken on that year. "I know this is unfair to ask but could you watch Jem for a minute while I go and meet this Gringotts representative?"

Heather beamed and dropped the parchment she was reading. "Absolutely!" she said, "I'm proofreading one of the articles but I know it's pointless as Colgan will go in and change it all anyway!"

Ginny grimaced her sympathy, "I had to do that a lot my first year here too, makes you think that all that time spent at Hogwarts is kind of unnecessary if you learn so much and nearly kill yourself studying for exams and then you're treated like a moron here! Still, I promise you it gets better. I'm going to need a lot of help with my case load since I'm taking on this new one so I would really appreciate your help."

Jumping up Heather nodded her head vigorously, "That would be great Ginny!" she enthused, "Oh, here let me take him from you." she cuddled the little baby against her shoulder and then gestured towards Ginny's office door. "You'd better get on. I had a peek at him earlier, he's gorgeous. Lucky you!" she winked and sashayed off before Ginny had time to open her mouth and remind her she was engaged.

Smoothing down her grey skirt suit Ginny thanked Merlin that she actually looked professional that day. There had been times when she'd sauntered into the office in the mornings with bits of breakfast or Jemmy's spit up over her outfit.

Taking a deep breath she turned the handle of her office door and stepped inside. The room was small but airy because of the large windows across one wall which Ginny liked to keep open as much as possible letting the sounds from the street below waft up into her office. The walls were a light purple which gave the room enough character to make up for the fact the only pieces of furniture were a large desk, a small book case and three chairs. On the wall was a single picture of a stormy sea which emitted a low ocean roar which she found helped her work.

This picture was the focus of the Gringotts representative as she walked into the room. He was staring at it very intently with his arms crossed but Ginny gave him no more than a cursory glance as she closed the door and, grabbing a glass off her table, went to her water cooler for a drink.

"I'm so sorry if I've kept you waiting. I'm Ginny Weasley and I'm so excited to be working on this project. Would you like a drink?"

She turned around again to see the man's reaction and saw that he had turned to face her.

Shock hit her like a bolt of lightning and she gave a small involuntary scream before dropping the glass she was holding and causing it to smash into small glittery pieces across the floorboards of her office.

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Alright hands up all those who caught the 'Rebecca' quote from the very beginning. I think that is the best bit of that book so I thought I would nick it for the purposes of the beginning of this story!

Anyway I hope you liked it. Three guesses who the Gringotts representative is! And Jemmy? Well you'll just have to wait and see.

Please review, it would mean an awful lot to me :)

Cheers,

Jess/star123


	2. Lies in Exchange for Sanity

Chapter 2- Lies in Exchange for Sanity

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What has it been? Like two months? I'm so sorry. I bet you all gave me up for a lost cause but the announcement of when the sixth book is coming out has spurred me into producing another chapter with another soon to follow. I hope you all have wonderful holidays, I've bought six packs of water balloons for our traditional post Christmas lunch water fight. Gotta love having a hot Christmas! 

Oh and in regards to Jemmy I'm not getting spelling wrong or anything, it's a Scottish pet name for Jamie, we've always used it in my family so I just forgot that maybe not everyone would understand.

29 reviews for the first chapter? Thank you so much, I love you all!

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

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Her somewhat exaggerated reaction didn't seem to faze Draco overly. He turned and his eyes traveled from the broken glass up to her face.

"So it is you." he said calmly, but she saw his shoulders had tensed considerably. "I saw the picture and wondered, it's the one from the room at Hogwarts, isn't it?" He looked over at her but she was standing absolutely still with an expression of frozen horror on her face. "What did you do? Steal it?" he asked.

Ginny felt her body begin to unfreeze, she knew she was becoming mobile again because her hands had begun to shake and her legs were feeling wobbly. She stumbled backwards and propped herself against the wall, leaning her head back against it's cool surface.

"Malfoy?" she asked faintly, needing him to clarify the ridiculous situation.

He raised an eyebrow sardonically, "So it would seem."

They stood and stared at each other for several long seconds. Ginny let her eyes travel hungrily over him taking in every small detail change that had occurred in the five years since she had seen him last; like his more defined facial features, the change of hairstyle into a rumpled, spiked mess and the slight broadening of his shoulders.

His eyes were similarly drinking her small stature in. He noticed that her hair had darkened slightly and that her face and body had matured in the years they had been apart. Draco's stare intensified as he realised he was angry that these changes had taken place without him. It was if he had expected her to remain exactly the same, unable to move on without him. His eyes caught sight of her engagement ring, it was hardly inconspicuous after all what with the dazzle of the diamonds and gleam of the large pearl.

Ginny noted him analyzing her and, although she had been doing exactly the same thing, she coloured indignantly. Following his line of vision she covered her left hand with her right subsequently covering her large engagement ring. His concentrated gaze annoyed and worried her, it was also sending her emotions haywire. Having brutally trained herself to avoid thinking about Draco the sight of him was ravaging her carefully constructed emotional stability.

Ginny tore her eyes away from him and looked up at the ceiling of her office blinking back a sudden wetness in her eyes and attempting to shove her distress back down deep inside. She told herself fiercely that she would rather die than let him see the effect he was having on her after all those years.

"It's been a while, huh?" he said gruffly turning his back to her ostensibly to look out the window but it seemed more as if he too was having trouble keeping his feelings in check

Ginny took the opportunity to wipe her eyes clear and get herself under control with a couple of deep breaths.

"Yes it has." She agreed. There seemed little else to say after that so she closed her mouth again and stared at his back.

"You're engaged to Dean Thomas." He said suddenly in a very controlled tone of voice.

Ginny's eyes widened in surprise, "How did you know?" she gasped. What she'd really wanted to ask was _Why do you care?_ But she thought that would open up a can of worms that she really didn't want to explore ever again.

To her consternation Draco chuckled mirthlessly, "You write for the drivel they call the Daily Prophet but even you are surprised that people actually read it?" he said cruelly and Ginny felt a dawning sense of realization come over her.

"You read the announcement in the paper." She said, "But I thought the Daily Prophet didn't go out to South America, I was told that they had their own wizarding paper."

"Checked did you?" he turned to face her again but the smirk she was sure would be plastered across his face was missing. "Tried to make sure I wouldn't know?"

It was the truth. As soon as he had graduated from Hogwarts Draco had been employed by the Argentinean Gringotts division as a part of their magical security team. He had left for South America straight away and, although she had tried not to enquire, Ginny was fairly certain he hadn't been back since. When Dean had suggested that they announce their engagement in the paper Ginny had checked the Daily Prophet distribution lines to see how far it went. She had been guaranteed that her paper would not make it as far as Argentina and she had been extremely reassured although she wouldn't admit to herself why that was.

"You did, didn't you?!" Draco was continuing seeming to read the look on her face.

"Of course not!" she lied knowing even as she did so that it was futile. Although she hated to admit it Draco knew how to read her better than most people including some members of her family.

"You're lying Virginia." The simple statement of fact stole away all her protestations and explanations. His next words hammered home the reality of his presence before her. "Why would you try and keep me from knowing that you were engaged? After what happened between us what made you think I would care?" his voice was cold but if he could read her well then it certainly worked both ways and Ginny noted that he was avoiding her eyes and sounded hurt and angry rather than uncaring which he was clearly trying to imitate.

There was a long pause. Ginny was not going to answer him, she knew he knew that but he was waiting for her to speak anyway.

"I think you should go now." She said quietly. "I'll be in touch about the project. I think there should be a way for us to find this secret vault while spending as little time as possible in each other's company."

"And that's what you want, is it?" He was angry and this time he didn't bother trying to conceal it.

"I thought that would be what you would wish." Ginny replied, avoiding answering directly as she wasn't sure what she would actually say.

"What I wish for you can't give me, Virginia." He stated and for one second Ginny entertained a romantic but disturbing notion of him pining away wanting her but never able to have her. Very quickly this imaginative thought was thrust aside as he marched past her and out the door muttering:

"I wish I'd never met you."

* * *

Ginny winced slightly as he slammed her office door. She stood transfixed gazing at the solid wooden surface, carefully not thinking but instead letting a reel of emotions flicker through her. Anger, anguish, disappointment, alarm, anger again and then, slowly but very surely, fury. Red hot and burning fury which made her want to wrench open the door, march after Draco and let him have what for. She had barely lifted one leg, however when she heard a voice call out behind her. 

Whipping around she saw Dean's beaming head buoyed happily on a sheet of flames in her fireplace. His smile fell from his face as he saw her expression.

"Gin?!" he called out in alarm, "What's wrong?"

"Did you know? Did you know he's here in England?" She spat out switching her anger onto her fiancé in the absence of the real cause.

"Who's here? What's going on?" Dean asked in confusion looking around her office as if he would be able to see who she was talking about.

"Malfoy!" she said gathering up as much hatred and anger into that one word that she possibly could. She dropped to her knees in front of the fire. "He was in my office a minute ago, we're supposed to work together on a case but I…" she had been about to declare that she was going to refuse to do it but her mouth decided to form it's own take on her thoughts and what she ended up saying was: "…I don't think I can."

Dean cursed and Ginny looked at his head in surprise. He rarely used swear words, at least not in front of her.

"It had to happen sometime I suppose. It's alright Ginny, I'm coming home. Just try and avoid him until I get there." He spoke quickly and sternly and seemed ready to withdraw his head from the fire and get started on the trip straight away.

"Dean hold up there a sec!" Ginny exclaimed leaning forward and placing a hand alongside his jaw. "You're not coming home."

He blinked slowly in surprise, "I'm not?" he asked and Ginny smiled fondly.

"Of course you're not. You worked hard to get that story up in the mountains you're staying until you've clicked away to your heart's content."

"Taking photos takes second place if you need me. You shouldn't have to deal with Malfoy by yourself. I helped you before, I know what you're going through. He messed you around once Ginny, you can't expect me to stay up the mountains and let him do it again, can you?" Ginny was glad only his head was visible in the fire, it stopped her throwing herself into his arms and thanking him for being so kind and sweet. She was trying to stay angry because she didn't want to have to deal with her feelings once she was no longer in a state of fury.

"I've grown up a lot since Hogwarts and I can handle this, Dean. Let me be a big girl and sort it out. It shouldn't be a problem we're only working together, after all." Ginny didn't remember being such a liar as a child, maybe more of Draco had rubbed off on her then she thought.

Dean, however, seemed comforted by her assurances. "Well if you're sure then I suppose I had just better let you get on with it, as usual." He chuckled. "You know one day I would like to have just a tenth of your confidence Ginny, that would more than do me for the rest of my life."

She raised her eyebrows unbelievingly then leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. "You're sweet." She smiled, "Well I'd better get on with my work otherwise Colgan will be angry at us both for getting up to shenanigans in his offices."

Dean gave a lopsided smile and nodded, "It wouldn't be the first time." He pointed out and Ginny coloured slightly at the memories.

"All the more reason not to get caught at it again." She said mock fiercely pulling away.

"One second, how's Jemmy?" Dean asked.

"Fine, perfect actually. He keeps me busy and happy whilst you're away."

"So you don't mind…"

Ginny cut him off before he traveled down the road now more than familiar to them both.

"Dean if I've told you once I've told you a thousand times, I love Jem and looking after him is one of the great delights of my life. I would have him forever if it was necessary but he needs his father and the sooner he comes back the better. Now scoot, I'll talk to you again soon."

She looked up and felt a stomach give a twinge of alarm as the expression of deep love on Dean's face registered with her. His affection for her often scared her like this but she had long since trained herself to hide her discomfort.

"You're incredible." He muttered, "I love you so much."

"I love you too." Ginny assured him, "But if you don't remove your head from my fireplace I'll put the fire screen up and your face will get squashed."

Dean laughed and then his face withdrew from view silently and Ginny found herself letting out a sigh of relief. Instantly guilty she gave a little groan of annoyance at the sudden complications which had sprung up around her. Before she had time to consider that the supposed 'complications' all led back to one single, but very big, problem there was a tapping at the window and she saw a little owl was fluttering outside.

"Pigwidgeon." She said feeling a smile spread across her face as she hurried over and let the bird in. He hooted excitedly and bobbed happily as she stroked him gently with one finger while removing the letter from his leg with the other.

She unrolled the parchment and noted the tight, neat script which was easily identifiable as Hermione's.

_Dear Ginny,_

_I don't know if this is the right thing to do or not but I just wanted to let you know that Draco Malfoy is back in the country. I signed his entrance visa this morning but I didn't actually see him for myself. I don't know why he's back, but something made me think you would like to know. I'm sorry if this is inappropriate, I know after what happened between the both of you that you no longer have any feelings for him but I would like to think that if a meeting did occur you would be prepared._

_See you for tea on Friday as usual?_

_Love Hermione _

Ginny read the letter over twice more and then crumpled it viciously in her hand. She stared vacantly out the window for a second then stumbled back until she felt her back against the wall again and then slid down into a heap on the floor. She put her head in her hands and then proceeded to go very quietly, but very thoroughly, to pieces.

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He he more angry Draco! I want more angry Draco! So many reviews, thank you so much. Some people get really antsy about personal replies so I'm sorry if this annoys you, however I enjoy doing it so just avert your eyes if necessary :) 

**Charmed-Goddess-07**: Yay you came along to this story too! I was so happy when I saw you had reviewed. Jemmy Ginny's kid? Hmm maybe or maybe not. Thank you so much for giving your support to this story too!

**Mereschino**: Thank you for your review, I'm glad you're interested in who the characters will turn out to be. I can't wait for people to find out too, I hope you all like it.

**Naughtygrl**: well golly gosh I reckon you might be right! Thank you for reviewing :)

**LovingFanFics**: It's so good to see you review! Wow you have high hopes for this one, it makes me feel guilty for not updating in forever. Thank you so much for your enthusiasm, I hope the story rises to your expectations. Love you!

**Starrynight12312**: Why does everyone think Jem is Ginny's child? This chapter contains a clue as to his parentage but I think I'll leave the actual unveiling of his identity for a little longer. So good to see you come along to this story as well, thank you.

**CSJune**: I'm glad you liked it. This is the first time I've written a sequel so thank you for saying it was a good way to begin.

**Rutupatel:** I've replied to your reviews so many times that I remembered how to spell your name without having to check back (I've broken it down into rut-up-atel in my mind!). I can't believe you've read The Ultimatum through three times. I don't think even I have done that! I certainly felt the glare and it has been following me around whilst I have been doing anything else rather than updating! Thank you so much for your fantastic review, please don't hate me for the time I've taken!

**Pawzz:** Yeah I already feel bad for Dean, I didn't feel bad for Harry but then he's an idiot so….anyway thank you for reviewing.

**FNP**: And I'm excited to see you reviewing, believe me! Well read this chapter and tell me whether you think Jem is Ginny's. Draco is well gorgeous in this one, in my mind anyway! Thanks :)

**Friends-16uk**: I bet you feel like you've been waiting even longer for the second chapter. Sorry mate, hope you forgive me :)

**Demented furiae**: Man you are going to be even madder at me for the huge gap between chapters aren't you?! Sorry. But yes it is Draco, very good guess, you get a gold star and then another again for being patient and then another one again for reviewing!

**Julia**: Thank you, sorry I didn't comply with your wish and you asked so nicely too :)

**Lilblondeiy214**: Hey you've come with me too! Yay! We do have instant messaging in Australia but there is a time difference of something like 9 hours with the US so probably your friend is asleep when you're online! Thank you for reviewing.

**Bereth Uireb**: yeah the ending of The Ultimatum caused a bit of controversy, I was accused of doing a cheap publicity stunt for my sequel which I thought was great. I've never done a cheap publicity stunt before, or even a relatively expensive one come to that! Jemmy seems to be a major thing for people so I might leave him a bit of a secret for a while! Thank you for reviewing.

**Depth of Soul**: Hello again! I hope your lip is okay, I don't want to responsible to damage caused to one of my favourite reviewers! Glad you picked up on the Harry thing, I thought I'd better put in that they're still friends and everything. The review was fine, don't worry I shocked a lot of people, I didn't realise it was stir up such a response! Sorry about the wait (eep don't attack me!) but thank you for reading at least the first chapter.

**CheckeredShoes:** I like your name, it made me giggle. Thank you for your enthusiasm and your impeccable manners!

**Nickel**: Thank you for saying you like The Ultimatum and I'm glad to see that you want to read the sequel. Yeah I'm a bit of a fan of Colgan, my friend says she can't take the name seriously as it just reminds her of toothpaste but I like it and I think it suits the character. Thank you for reviewing.

**Heart Broken Devil**: Gosh Jem's parentage is being spread out over all the boys Ginny knows! Thanks for your review.

**Kermit:** Well I'll try and keep it up for you! Thank you for reviewing.

**x0Malfoy0x:** I'm glad you're so happy about the whole thing! There isn't a cliffie at the end of this chapter so I hope that makes you happy. Hope the reactions were up to scratch. Thanks!

**MemoriesOfYou**: I'm glad you thought so. I hope you read this one as well and enjoy :)

**d347hbyp45510n**: The quote was the very first line of the first chapter as well as the very first line in Rebecca with obvious changes! I hope you're not too angry at me for forcing you to actually do school work, I feel awful that I would have made you do such an awful thing. Maybe you didn't and spent all your time pittling! I'm glad you didn't just pittle on by past my story, thank you for that!

**Dracolovesginny**: Yikes I don't want to be beaten by a radish but I guess I deserve it here star123 submits to substantial pounding with root vegetable I hope that makes you feel better. Poor Dean, I can see he's going to be the baddy for some people here! I hope you liked this chapter.

**Rockon2680**: Hmm what happened? Well I guess you'll just have to wait for a little while to find out! There will be flashbacks, I promise but I'm not sure when I'll slip them in. Why Dean? Because I've always thought he's a sweetie and now I get to write him! Thanks for reviewing.

**Saemm**: Thank you so much for saying it was awesome and that you enjoy the plot already. By the first chapter? You're a star! You're awesome too, more than in fact!

**Zuvalupa**: thank you for saying you liked the beginning, I hope it continues to entertain.

**Padfootedmoony:** Hello my friend! Things will be fixed, look I have a hammer and everything! Thank you for reviewing, I'm glad you checked in on the sequel.

**LilliannaRose**: Eek sorry, I didn't really obey your command did I?! Oh well, thank you for your demand anyway :)

**Danielle**: Jem is an enigma at the moment, I can't believe people are so interested in him! Thank you for saying it is a great story!

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Phew been a while since I've done that! Thank you everyone and MERRY CHRISTMAS OR ANY OTHER HOLIDAY YOU CELEBRATE!!! 

Love Jess/star123


	3. The Significance of the Ring

Chapter 3- The Significance of the Ring

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Considering this story is called The Ring I thought I better get around to introducing the significance of it!

How about this people? From 2 months to 1 week update! This chapter is a bit longer as well I think so there you go.

Next chapter will be a flashback one, I promise. Oh and one more thing, I'm going to the Falls Festival over New Years. This probably means absolutely nothing to people who don't live in Oz but it is a huge rock event which goes over three days with camping and awesome music. I'm so excited!

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

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Ginny was up, dressed and ready for work at a ridiculously early hour the next day. Hurtling through the fireplaces on her way to the office with Jem on her hip she thought how good it would be to be in early to sort out her day for once. She would answer her mail, see Jem settled and then…and then…then Ginny drew a blank. She knew she had to sort out the Draco issue but how exactly she was to do that she wasn't sure.

Rolling the idea of sending him a letter containing very discouraging wording around in her head she almost missed the appropriate fireplace but managed to catch it just in time. She staggered out, considering as she did so that maybe while Jem was with her an alternative mode of transportation should be considered as staying upright and keeping him safe was kind of difficult.

She was so busy keeping a grip on both herself and the baby it was several seconds before she was able to take in her surroundings. Finally sorting herself out and fairly sure there was no soot on her or Jemmy Ginny glanced up and as such was able to not only see Draco before he moved behind a large filing cabinet but read the expression on his face. If surprise and supreme annoyance could be mixed up and painted on someone's face that was what he was wearing.

She jumped slightly, her body giving a little reminder that seeing him again was more than a little disconcerting; her mind was pondering something else. _What was that look for?_

Suddenly something fairly major clicked in her brain which made her wonder about her ability to put things into order of significance accurately. Yes Draco had looked at her strangely but, more importantly, there were no filing cabinets in the foyer area of the Daily Prophet!

At least not usually.

Now, however, there were about 20 huge cabinets in a square forming a sort of room. There was one small gap between two filing cabinets where she had just seen Draco but apart from that there was no way of seeing inside this little space. It looked like Draco had created his own office.

_Well if it keeps him out of mine that's fine with me!_

Ginny thought, although there was a part of her, the part which still imagined itself to be a child, that was jealous of this cubby house he'd built himself. It was lucky the foyer was so large or there would have been no way it would have fit. Ginny wondered if Colgan had seen this little arrangement yet, when he did she expected that he wouldn't exactly be a happy chappy.

Walking forward she reached up and knocked on one of the filing cabinets on either side of the gap. Her knocking made a dull, metal thunking noise which echoed in the large marble foyer.

Receiving no answer Ginny stuck her head inside the cabinet room and laughed out loud at what she saw.

"Decorated your Wendy house as well I see." She said between giggles as she took in the large deep red rug on the floor, the beautifully carved wooden table with two lamps and a vase of flowers on it and two comfy black leather lounge chairs.

Draco was squatting in front of an open drawer running his long fingers through the files and he twisted his head round to look at her as she spoke. His cool gaze fell on her, then Jem and then to the flowers on the table. Ginny decided that for once the disgust he was showing was not for her but for the décor.

"Yes, you've caught me out," he drawled sarcastically, "when I said I was going to South America to work in magical protection with Gringotts I was actually attending a prestigious school of interior design. This is the result of several years of hard work. Impressed?"

"I like the idea of using filing cabinets as walls, very chic." She answered amusedly.

"Very in now." Draco agreed turning back to the task he had been intent upon before she'd interrupted him.

Ginny walked further into the 'room' and ran her hands absently along the soft leather of one of the chairs.

"So are you going to tell me what this is all about?" she asked leaning down and settling Jem into the chair. He had been lolling sleepily against her chest and her arms were beginning to ache. Jem didn't seem to notice he was being put down as he snuggled against the arm rest and began to nap.

Not hearing a reply from Draco she turned around and found that he had his head down trying to reach a file up the back. There was no doubt in her mind that he had watched her putting Jemmy down but now he was purposely avoiding looking at her. Pursing her lips she marched over to him and tapped him sharply on the shoulder.

"Oi, file-head, come out here and answer me." She demanded in clipped tones, if there was one thing she didn't like it was being ignored.

Draco pulled his head away from the files and straightened up. "Fine, the 'homey' touches were supplied by that nosy little apprentice. She saw me doing this and insisted on decorating it. I was busy so I just let her get on with it. However, if it disturbs you that much…"

Ginny had been about to protest that she meant the whole filing cabinet house thing rather then the decorations when he suddenly strode past her over to the table, picked up the vase with the flowers in it and lobbed it over the top of the filing cabinet wall.

There was a loud smash as it hit the floor on the other side.

Draco turned around. "Happy?"

Ginny stared at him incredulously. "Are you insane?!" she shrieked, "What if someone had been standing on the other side of that wall? What if that was Heather's antique vase? You're such a moron! Don't you ever think?"

Jem stirred, looking like he was about to cry and Ginny brushed past Draco and stroked the soft down of the baby's hair soothingly, shushing him gently whilst continuing to glare at the former Slytherin.

"Firstly Virginia, after, did you call her Heather?, well after she barged into my space I thought it would be a sensible idea to put a ward on which would prevent everyone except you and I coming within two metres of this area." He paused and looked down at Jemmy, "Clearly with the exception of those you carry in here. Try not to make that a habit I'd hate to see you wander in with Potter cradled in your arms. Anyway my ward would make it extremely unlikely, actually impossible, for someone to have been injured by that vase. Secondly I watched that girl transfigure that vase out of a hat from the lost and found box so it is not an antique. Thirdly I am not a moron. And fourthly I am quite renowned for my thinking."

Before Ginny could reply Draco's eyes suddenly switched their attention to something standing behind her and she turned her head to see what had caught his interest. Colgan was standing outside the perimeters of Draco's spell and appeared to be shouting something in at her but she couldn't hear a thing he was saying. Looking back at Draco for an explanation for this strange behaviour he shrugged.

"A silencing charm seemed like a good idea as well."

"I'd better go to him then." Ginny looked down at Jemmy and smiled at his peaceful expression as he slept. He'd had a rough night with an upset stomach and she hated to wake him now he was finally getting some rest. Weighing up Draco as a possible babysitter she determined that he was unlikely to cause any damage for a few minutes while the baby was asleep.

"Just keep an eye on Jemmy for a moment then." she instructed and then, as he opened his mouth to protest, she added, "Just do it Malfoy." before hurrying through the gap and over to Colgan.

* * *

A full 20 minutes later Ginny escaped from Colgan's office and almost ran back to the foyer. She hadn't meant to be so long but she had been working with Colgan distributing all her current and prospective cases amongst the others in the office and passing over contacts and information. It had taken quite some time but now she was free of all obligations except the Gringotts case.

To her surprise Colgan hadn't minded Draco's little set up in the entrance way and in fact was very keen on emphasising the importance on her cooperation with Draco. This, apparently, included spending long hours sorting through the files which Draco had somehow appropriated from a number of sources including the ministry of magic, Gringotts and, of course, the Daily Prophet itself.

Rushing back into the cabinet area she looked down into the seat where she had left Jemmy. He wasn't there. She scanned the room quickly but could see neither hide nor hair of the baby. Ginny turned panicked eyes onto Draco who was seated at the table poring over some of the files.

"Malfoy!" she snapped and he raised his eyes calmly.

"Yes Miss Weasley?" he asked politely.

"Don't you Miss Weasley me! Where is he?"

"Where is who?"

"Jemmy, the baby, about yay high!" she exploded putting her arms up and showing the small height of Jem. "Brown eyes, black hair, dark skin, the one I left in the chair over there! Where have you put him?"

"Oh that, yes I know what you mean." Draco said leaning back and eyeing her with a hint of amusement.

Ginny waited for a moment but when it seemed he wasn't planning on continuing she yelled, "Draco if you don't tell me this bloody second where he is I am going to hex you into oblivion then bring you back and rip you to pieces with my bare hands!"

"Tut tut, hardly complimentary, Miss Weasley." He said jovially. "Well if you must know, it was looking at me strangely so I filed it."

"You what?" Ginny was sure she had misheard.

"I filed it. And there's no need to look like that," he added catching her furious expression, "I specifically filed it under 'b' for baby so I wouldn't forget where I put it."

"You're very funny." She said sarcastically, "Now be serious. Tell me where you put him. Him by the way, not it."

In reply Draco leaned over to a nearby cabinet and pulled open the middle drawer which was already slightly open. Nestled inside between two large files and cushioned by Draco's black cloak was Jemmy. He was awake and fumbling happily with a small gold bracelet hung with little charms. Jem cooed and reached his little arms up when he saw Ginny and she ran forward and scooped him up.

She was white with fright and anger and, without looking at Draco again she strode out of the area and shouted: "Heather!"

The young woman appeared almost at once, concerned at the tone of her friend's voice.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"Can you take Jemmy for a little while please?" Ginny requested not meeting her eyes, not wanting to alarm her further with the look she would doubtless see there.

"Of course but…"

"Thank you." Ginny cut her off and then turned back into the cabinet room. "Mr Malfoy," she said crisply, "I'll meet you on the green above the city." Then she disapparated with a pop which to Draco's ears managed to sound just that little bit angrier than it should have.

* * *

Ginny stood high on the hill looking down at the town and breathing in slow, deep breaths to control her anger. The wind ruffled her ponytail and clothes and carried with it a sweet, warm smell which tried to tease her into a good mood. She was having none of it.

She heard the pop behind her signify Draco's arrival but she didn't turn around. Instead she waited for him to silently come to her side. They stood together for a long time until finally Ginny found her voice.

"You shouldn't have done that. Frighten me like that." She said quietly although Draco knew the calm was simply covering up a great well of feelings consisting mainly of anger and it's many synonyms. "You've messed around with my life ever since I met you and you've spread your cruelty and your determination to ruin things for everyone around all my friends but Jem is different. He's just a baby, he's never done anything to you and he's never likely to. Just leave him alone I'm only going to tell you this once."

"That was a lovely speech and completely accurate except for one thing. He's already done something to me." Draco pointed out, "He stole that gold charm bracelet I bought for-" he stopped abruptly and Ginny whirled to face him.

"Go on, you can say her name you know, I already know it after all."

"Bothers you, does it?" Draco asked, "To hear about her?"

Ginny glared at him and stepped forward, very frustrated at the fact that the early morning sun was still shining merrily and the meadow they stood upon was green and lush. Where were the rain clouds when she needed them? Where were the flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder to match her mood?

"You know it does, but only because you talking about her means that you are still talking!" Ginny snarled.

She was standing very close to him now, her chin tilted upwards so she could still look him in his steely grey eyes. Ginny hadn't meant to let herself get so near, near enough to start the little tingles in her stomach and the feeling that her whole body was magnetized towards him.

Realising she was treading in very dangerous waters she took a step back but was stopped moving away even further as Draco's right hand shot out and grasped her left. His fingers clutched hers tightly and pressed Dean's ring into his and her flesh.

"Don't…" he said and then closed his mouth, indicating that letting slip that word had been entirely unintentional.

She held his gaze with her own and, slowly, moved forward again. "What do you want?" she asked slowly and clearly. "Because I'm telling you Malfoy I'm not sure I can give it to you. You said before you wished you'd never met me? Well I can't change that. Still it's like you expect something from me."

He was completely silent but as she had spoken his thumb had started to gently rub across the skin of the hand he held.

"I'm going to ask you again Malfoy," She said ignoring the familiar thrill she was experiencing from having him touch her so tenderly again, "what do you want from me?"

"What do I want?" he spoke with a contemplative air as if it was the first time he'd thought about it. "Let's see, I want an Aero-star 500 broomstick, to be minister of magic and, oh yeah, I want the stuff I sometimes see going down in Argentina to stop, you think I'm cruel? You need to go travelling…"

"Stop, Malfoy just stop for one moment and think." Ginny reached up and gripped his chin with her free hand. Making sure their eyes were firmly locked she took a deep breath and tried again. "You've come back for something, now tell me what it is. What do you want?"

Ginny could tell immediately that she'd finally got through to him. He'd cracked. His veneer of cool couldn't take the pressure, his ice couldn't stand the heat he was now experiencing. Ginny had to forcibly stop herself backing away now she had him, the look he gave her was, putting it mildly, intense.

"What do I want?" he asked in a low but very disturbing tone. "What do I want?!" he shouted.

"Yes, what do you want?!" Ginny screamed right back.

Draco smirked and lifted up the hand which he was still holding. He held the tips of her fingers up and tilted her hand slowly so the diamonds in her engagement ring sparkled. He moved his eyes back up to hers and then; in one quick, fluid movement he pulled the ring from her finger.

Stepping away from her he pulled back his arm and then threw the engagement ring with all his might into the air removing his wand from his pocket as he did so.

"This is what I want!" he shouted and, as the glittering piece of jewellery began to fall, he whipped his wand round in a series of complicated movements and bellowed "Amoveo Tutishinc!"

The ring vanished.

Ginny screamed.

* * *

Not sure if that is considered a cliffie but I thought it was a cute end. If you're wondering about the spell Amoveo means "move" in Latin, Tutis means "safe/secure" and hinc means "place/area". So basically Draco moved Ginny's ring to a safe place. Gosh, I wonder where that could be!

Thank you for all the fantastic reviews, they were very nice Christmas presents indeed!

Rockon2680: Hmm this mystery thing is a new and exciting experience for me! Thank you for saying you love my reading my stories, I love reading your reviews so I guess we're even :)

Rutupatel: Oh I'm sorry you lost your friend but its nice you're keeping her memory alive in your mind with something. I'm glad I timed the chapter update appropriately so you could study for your exams in peace. I didn't mean for there to be all these unresolved questions and, as I know the answers, I keep being surprised that other people don't know! Thank you for reviewing.

Kittybro: Glad Jemmy has made such an impression on you. If you read this chapter carefully you can pick up a couple of hints about his parentage. Thank you for reviewing.

Depth of Soul: Wow you're such a sweetie, thank you for saying you loved the chapter and didn't mind about the wait. You can't see them getting it together again now? Draco seem just a little too bitter? We might have Lost in Oz but if we do I haven't seen it. Is Sawyer hot? If so I give you full leave to imagine him rather than Draco. Thank you for your lovely review :)

Nickel: I hope I haven't made you think of Colgan as a big tube of toothpaste now I've pointed it out! I'm so glad you liked Draco's last line, I was fairly keen on it myself. I wanted to put his hurt and bitterness out there and I think that line did the trick. Thank you for seeming to have the same frame of mind as me!

Dracolovesginny: Oh no, apologise to your brother from me and I hope you calmed down and didn't do your heart any damage! Probably by now you've found out when the 6th book is coming out but if you haven't it's July 16th next year. I can't wait! Dean isn't the baddie, he just happens to be in the wrong relationship with the wrong person! Thank you for your review and rest assures, I am alive!

Zuvalupa: Thank you for wishing me a merry Christmas I now impart unto you a happy new year! Also thanks for the olde worlde speech, and the review as a whole of course.

Charmed-Goddess-07: Oh no, you mistook me for one of those writers that start something and then never finish, sorry about that. I might let you in on some secrets or maybe I won't….actually of course I will otherwise there would be no point to this story! Thank you for your review, we did it!

Kermit: Well I think we all know that Ginny is a little bit confused. I hope this chapter quenches your longing for more, happy new year.

Lilblondeiy214: Oh I know, I don't strive to be like the books because that is impossible and the characters would never do the things I want them to do! It's fun stumbling across talent on here, isn't it? I'm not saying I'm one of those people but there are some that stick with you. Thank you for your review.

Devilgirllit: Thank you twice over, here is a nice little update for you!

Padfootedmoony: What makes you assume it was something Draco did to Ginny that made them break up…? I'm thinking next chapter will be a flashback, what do you think? Thank you for reviewing :)

Waterlili: Thanks very much, I'm glad you enjoyed The Ultimatum and hope you like this one too.

Saemm: Another who is fascinated by Jemmy, I'm glad you're excited by my story. I have posted again fairly soon and thanks for saying you love it, it makes me all happy inside!

FNP: Yes you certainly did and for that you deserve kudos. Look at you thinking through all the possibilities of Jemmy's parentage! I'm not sneaky nor like JK but I'll take that as a compliment. I think more things will be cleared up in the next chapter. Thank you for your review, keep hold of your precious some nasty little hobbit has his eye on it.

Mereschino: Oh I liked that line too. Yeah I was going for bitter but slick is an extra bonus! Thank you for appreciating that line, you should start a club with Nickel!

LovingFanFics: Nope, no dropping going on here, sorry I alarmed you. Frankly I alarmed myself. Woah! I can't believe you like my story the best, that is so unbelievably nice of you to say…excuse me while I squeal for a few minutes…and you're excited to be reading the sequel? That's so sweet, I hope I live up to your expectations, now I'm freaked I won't! Here's another chapter for you although it doesn't explain much, I think next chapter will. I love you more, thank you!

Starrynight12312: Everyone can thank you for this chapter as you asked very nicely for an update before new year and I have to say that it appealed to me a lot. Here it is for you, before new year! Thank you for spurring me on.

Stormy Nights: Not fair? What isn't fair? That they're not together? As a hint for the answer to your question I'm going to say, I'm a sucker for happy endings. If that doesn't answer your question I don't know what will! Thank you for your review.

Nr2bookworm: Why does Draco have to be mean? I guess it's just his nature, and I have to say it amuses me as well. Well could you just forget someone like Malfoy, of course Ginny's sub conscious does a bit of yelling occasionally! It must be cool to go ice skating near Christmas, I've lived in England throughout my life so I know how a cold Christmas is. In some ways it is nicer to be cosy but at least here in Oz you can go to the beach or have an outside lunch at Christmas. Both hemispheres have their benefits I guess! Happy new year and thank you for reviewing.

Sunlitmist: Hmm, why did I choose Dean? Good question. I think because I always liked him as a character and because the majority of my cousins go for Westham and after my beautiful Liverpool boys I go for them too. Yeah I think mainly I just wanted to slip football references in! Thank you for reviewing and making me think about my choice of character!

LilliannaRose: Don't die of curiosity, you're a fantastic reviewer, I wanna keep you! Here I didn't take too long to update although there is still a fair amount of mystery. Next chapter will help clear things up, I promise. Thank you for reviewing.

Oh and one last thing, I saw The Phantom of the Opera last night. Wow! It seems as though I've found my favourite movie of 2004 in the dying days of the year! Go, run forth and see it!

Happy New Year

Love Jess/star123


	4. Slytherin and Gryffindor United in Jewel...

Chapter 4-Slytherin and Gryffindor United in Jewelry Form

* * *

Yes, I know. I'm an evil un-updater. I feel suitably bad…moving on. Yay for flashbacks! So this takes place lets say about two months after we left off in The Ultimatum.

Disclaimer: See first chapter.

* * *

_Five years ago…_

Ginny scribbled furiously on a bit of parchment pausing only occasionally to tuck the strands of hair which kept falling around her face behind her ears. Draco, sitting across the table from her in the room on the tenth floor, watched her with deep fascination.

He'd been informed by some of his Slytherin friends that completing an essay the night before it was due was stressful but he wouldn't have believed quite how nerve-racking the whole thing was if he hadn't witnessed Ginny's frantic response to discovering a Snape assignment was due the next day.

Her face was bright red and her hand was clenched so tightly on the quill he was sure it was going to break at any moment. He had already suggested a break to her and it was a testimony of just how quelling her look of reply had been that he had silently returned to his work and offered no more comments to her since.

Rain poured down in the darkness outside and pattered a constant tattoo on the window which, combined with the roaring fire and ambient light of the candles, made for a very cosy, domestic scene. Draco amused himself briefly with the image of himself with a pipe in a tartan dressing gown with matching slippers and Ginny not grasping a quill but knitting needles as she knitted a pair of booties for their youngest. However, the whole scenario was just too scary for him to maintain for long and he thankfully released the idea with a small shiver of horror.

He didn't even realise that he knew the word 'booties' before that little daydream. He determined to wipe it from his vocabulary immediately.

Suddenly he became aware of a missing background noise. The rain was still there, and the wind and the low sea roar from a painting on the wall but something was absent. Looking up he realised it was the constant scratching of Ginny's quill that had halted.

She had, it appeared, fallen asleep. Her face was squished most unattractively against the parchment, the hand holding the quill limp against the desk. Tilting his head slightly he was able to discern that she had actually finished her essay, in fact it seemed as if the minute she had written the last word she had dropped off.

Draco snorted in amusement then reached over and tugged gently on a lock of Ginny's hair.

"You know I'm pretty sure Snape deducts marks for dribble on homework." He pointed out as her eyes snapped open and glared at him dolefully.

"Yeah that and everything else." She yawned sitting up and frowning in consternation as the area of the scroll she had laid her head on came up with her, stuck to her cheek. She pulled it off and tutted at the smeared sentences.

Draco gave a small choke of laughter as he saw that she had inky marks across her skin.

"Tattooing the ingredients of an anti-terror draught is one way to remember them." He said wiping his thumb across her cheek and then showing her the dark smudge that had transferred to him.

"Yes, the whole putting knowledge _inside_ the head seemed like codswallop to me so I thought I'd try putting it _on_ the head instead." She snapped sarcastically finishing with a yawn which somewhat ruined her sarky attitude.

"Well I think it's high time you were in bed then." He said standing up and heading towards the door.

"Wait, not yet." Ginny laid a hand upon his arm and pulled him back to her. She pulled out her wand with the other hand and extinguished all the candles except one so the room's corners were plunged into darkness. Releasing Draco she went to the window and folded her arms not looking out into the night as one would imagine but instead looking at the reflection of Draco behind her.

He went to her and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, his head resting against her red curls and she leant herself back against him.

They swayed silently together for a long time, Ginny intertwining her hands with his which were clasped over her stomach. Thus encircled she felt like there was no real mark of where her body ended and his began. She had experienced this feeling before but still wasn't sure if she liked it. She liked being her own person too much to think that merging with someone else was the wisest thing to do.

Still it was definitely the happiest she had ever been.

"Don't screw this up Malfoy." She murmured sleepily snuggling still deeper against him.

She felt him smile into her hair and his voice rumble through his chest into her back as he replied:

"I won't if you don't."

He kissed her temple gently and her eyes fluttered closed in satisfaction.

* * *

She started some time later and realised that she must have dozed off again supported as she was by Draco's body.

"Virginia?" he asked quietly.

"Mmm." She answered sleepily not altogether keen on conversation.

"There's an owl at the window, you're going to have to straighten up or when I move away you're going to fall over." He loosened his arms around her and pushed her slightly so she was fully upright. "Think you can manage to maintain balance without me for a moment?" he smirked as she drooped forward, her body unwilling to leave it's relaxed state.

"I've managed well enough without you before." She replied a small bite in her tone.

Draco opened one of the windows and received a spray of rain, wind and feathers in his face for his troubles. He caught the owl and slammed the window shut again. Depositing the huge golden bird on the table he flicked his wand and candles all around the room ignited again.

Ginny came up beside him suddenly awake at the sight of the magnificent bird.

"Yikes!" she exclaimed, "That owl is even more pretentious than yours is!"

"We've been through this," Draco growled, "Barthelemi is grand, not pretentious." He

reached out his hand towards the bird which was ruffling it's feathers to remove the rain drops.

"Hello Sophonisba." He said quietly and the owl stretched out its neck and laid its head trustingly in his palm.

"You know this owl by name?" Ginny asked coming closer for a better look.

"Of course!" Draco snorted, "I've known Sophonisba longer than most of my human acquaintances, I like her better than most of my human acquaintances come to that."

"And are you going to try and tell me that anything with a name like that is unpretentious?" Ginny laughed sarcastically smothering the feeling that the bird represented just how little she knew about Draco's life outside of Hogwarts.

"She's not named to be pretentious." Draco said quietly, stroking the bird soothingly whilst he reached down to remove the letter from its leg. "She's named after the princess of Carthaginia who drank a bowl of poison rather then be held captive."

"Pretentious _and_ educational, a lethal combination." Ginny said under her breath sliding into a seat and looking up at Draco for his response to the letter.

He was standing very still his eyes scanning the lines quickly. She could see the dark words highlighted through the thin parchment but stopped herself from trying to decipher what the writing actually said.

_If Draco wants me to know what was going on he will tell me._ She told herself primly adding fiercely that he'd better tell her because she was known for her curiosity and wasn't partial to being left out of things.

Ginny sat still, her feet up on the seat, her arms wrapped around her legs and her chin resting on her knees as Draco read the letter over and over again his expression giving nothing away.

Ginny amused herself by guessing the odds of whether the note contained good, bad or unimportant news. She had just decided on bad news when Draco jerked his head up from the letter and caught her gaze.

"Right." He said shortly reaching for a piece of parchment. Ginny silently handed him a quill and he snatched if from her without saying thanks and scribbled something down. Ginny caught a glimpse of the two words he's written before he rolled it up and attached it to Sophonisba's leg.

_**I'm coming.**_

Draco opened the window and the owl soared out of it not seeming at all perturbed by the howling gale outside.

Ginny rose to her feet as Draco collected his belongings from around the room and waited for him to explain what was going on. His arms full he looked up at her and gestured towards his cloak and his dragon hide quill case.

"Grab those and follow me." He instructed calmly. "And-" he added as he saw her open her mouth to protest at being ordered around and left in the dark, "for once in your life just do as your told and help me out." He sounded so serious that Ginny grabbed the things he had asked her to and trailed behind him as he marched out of the room and down the corridor.

* * *

They hurried down and down through the levels until they emerged in the dungeons whereupon Draco disappeared into his common room leaving Ginny standing, gobsmacked, in the slimy corridor outside. A few minutes later Draco came out again clutching a bag in one hand and his broom in the other. He saw her standing stiff as a rod watching him and nodded at her.

"Good, you're still there."

"I didn't realise I had permission to leave, _sir_." She snapped.

"When has that ever stopped you before?" he countered beginning to climb the stairs leading to the entrance hall. Reaching the ground floor he shifted the broom to the other hand and pulled open the huge doors paying no heed to the loud creaking noise it emitted.

When they both stood out on the stone steps being lashed with the wind and rain he turned back to her and plucked the cloak out of her hands, swirling it over his shoulders.

"Where are you going?" Ginny shouted over the noise of the elements, her hair whipping around her voice in wet tendrils. "You can't fly in this! And you've got NEWTs coming up, you can't leave Hogwarts."

Draco put his bag and broom down and moved forward, wrapping his cloak around her, protecting her from the cold and wet, leaning his cheek against her temple.

"I don't really have much choice." He said, a note of apology evident in his voice, "But I'll be back soon. Its alright Virginia, don't worry."

Ginny pushed him away refusing to be comforted.

"Well gosh, I feel so reassured." She said sarcastically, "Malfoy you can't just take off like this, what's going on?"

"You should be proud of me, I'm being noble." He said sharply pulling the hood of his cloak up over his face and obscuring his expression from view. He reached out and took the quill case she had still been holding in her hands. He opened it and slipped the letter he had received up in the room on the tenth floor and a small black box into it before zipping it back up pushing it back towards her.

She didn't take it and instead took a step back away from him. "Do I want to know?" she asked. "Because if this whole thing is to do with something…dodgy, I don't want to have anything to do with it."

"Dodgy? You mean dark? I'm not running away to join the dark side Virginia!" he exploded angrily, "I'm going home to take care of some family business." Seeing her expression he added, "family business that doesn't have anything to do with _that_ kind of family business."

"Malfoy please don't go." She said quietly after a small pause in which they stared at each other fiercely.

He groaned and gripped her shoulders, the quill case dropping to the ground. "Don't ask me that, Virginia, I have to go, I _have_ to, I told you this isn't really a choice thing." He let her go and collected his bag and broom up again, "But even if I did have a choice, I would go to her." He said quietly before leaning down and kissing Ginny fiercely.

"The box in the case is for tomorrow." He said picking up the quill case and handing to her, this time she took it without protest. "I'm sorry I won't be there for your birthday but I'll send you a letter courtesy of my pretentious bird, I promise."

Ginny couldn't really think of anything to say so she nodded and looked down at her feet. She waited for him to say something else comforting, something more real that she could believe but when she looked up he was gone.

Shielding her eyes against the torrential rain she searched the sky for him and thought she saw a dark figure shoot around the top of one of the Hogwarts towers and then disappear.

Realising she was shivering from the cold and that it was well past curfew she hurried back into the warmth of the castle and stood, dripping, in the entrance hall.

Ignoring the fact that it wasn't yet her birthday she opened the quill case and pulled out the black box. Opening it up she let out a small squeak of surprise and wonder.

A ring, he'd given her a ring.

It had a silver band divided into four sections. The top of the ring had a band of emeralds running around it, the deep green gems glinting the exact same colour as the Slytherin colour. Underneath this line was a solid line of silver which was resting on top of a band of solid gold. The last band of the ring was made up of a line of rubies glowing warmly.

"Woah!" she whimpered pulling the ring from it's box and slipping it on her ring finger. It was exquisite and fit perfectly, Gryffindor and Slytherin united in jewelry form.

Ginny stared at it, completely entranced for a long time. Finally managing to shake herself out of her precious gem and metal induced haze she reached into the quill case once more and pulled out the letter Draco had stuck in there.

The writing was elegant and flowing and about as feminine as it was possible to get which sent alarm bells ringing in Ginny's head immediately.

_**Draconis,**_

_**Excuse the melodramatics of sending this in the middle of the night but I was afraid to leave it to the morning in case it was too late. My father is about to leave this world and although I know that you would side with me in hoping it is a one way ticket I can't help but ask you to come home to me.**_

_**I need you.**_

_**Yours,**_

_**Vissa**_

Ginny lowered the letter, her eyebrows creased together in confusion.

"Vissa?" she asked, "Who the hell is she?"

"I couldn't tell you Miss Weasley. What I can tell you is that you are in serious trouble, what do you think you are doing out of your bed so late?" Professor Mcgonagall's crisp tones interrupted Ginny's thoughts.

Ginny groaned inwardly and glared down at the letter as she followed her head of house towards her office and punishment. _This is all your fault! _She thought sending waves of hatred and annoyance towards the unknown 'Vissa' and Draco.

Something told her that it wouldn't be the last time that those two names in conjunction got her into serious trouble.

* * *

The myth of the Sophonisba thingy is going to beimportant later on I think…I just had to stick it in because it is such a romantic story (and not romantic in the lovey dovey sense at all!)

Also, if Draco's owl has been named in the books then I obviously wasn't paying enough attention so I named it as I wanted. Oh and the Draconis bit is a pet name so no need to worry about me getting his name wrong or anything :)

Reviews are fun, thank you so much to the following people:

Alenchic: destroy it? Come now, Draco isn't that evil. However, your question will be answered in future chapters never fear! Thanks for reviewing.

Kittybro: Gosh I like the reasoning you went through to disprove a lot of Jemmy's potential parentage! Here's an update for you, sorry though, no mention of Jemmy today!

x0Malfoy­0x: see I didn't even think that was a proper cliffie but if you thought it was and liked it then I'm glad! Thank you for reviewing.

LovingFanFics: Well it was a nice surprise when I updated quickly before but I guess this update tells you not to get used to it! Sorry! Thank you so much for saying you can see chemistry between the Draco and Ginny I write. I love that you come back and read all of my chapters, that's so cool of you!

Starrynight12312: Harry's child?! Eek, I can't believe who Jemmy is being associated with now! You're not behind the rest of the class at all but I feel I have to warn you you might be disappointed with the conclusion of who he really belongs to. Thanks for reviewing.

Potatomaker: yeah I think I might leave the full details as to what happened between them for a little longer, I hope you're interested enough to keep reading and find out! Thank you so much for saying you like my Draco. Well he couldn't be lovesick could he? I wouldn't date someone who was love sick, it would get more than a little annoying and I wanted to write Draco as someone attractive. You are an awesome reviewer thank you very much.

Zuvalupa: I hope you went to Phantom of the Opera and enjoyed it as much as I did. Yay, I'm so glad someone picked out the bit that was my favourite as well. It's my favourite bit of this story so far. Thank you.

Charmed-Goddess-07: Um…sorry matey! I didn't realise it was a particularly speccy cliffie but a couple of people think so. Actually I'm glad it was a cliffie, I love them so! Yeah actually Draco did go a little nuts in that chapter, I'm going to have to steer him away from full out insanity.

Lime Betelgeuse: Well I really, really (x1929834877454) love your review! How lovely are you liking my other story and thinking that I develop my plots etc well! I like you a lot :)

Padfootedmoony: I hope you like the flashback, sorry you had to wait a while and thanks for saying you enjoyed the last chapter.

MemoriesOfYou: Yay for the good shivers! I love that you get them for one of my characters, thank you so much for saying so!

Rutupatel: Your review made me chortle (which is great because I love that word), I love the idea that vanishing a woman's engagement ring is not the socially polite thing to do! Okay you can get a little bit of info out of this chapter but I don't know how much. You'll have to review and let me know your conclusions :)

FNP: Yes, sorry about the loony Draco. I'm going to get him back onto the path of sanity in no time, I promise! Sorry about going from 1 week to about 4, at least I keep you all on your toes, who knows when I'll update next…

Sunlitmist: The concert on Cockatoo Island is different but I desperately want to go to that one too. And Wave aid at the SCG, how cool would that be? Unfortunately I can't get to Sydney then so I'm going to miss out :( The Falls didn't just have Aussie bands The Thrills from Ireland were there and there a few others from far afield too. Yeah I'll make Jemmy a Cabbage Patch kid, good idea! I'm going to see the motorcycle diaries tomorrow, I can't wait, I've read the book (which had a really strange ending I thought!). Thank you for reviewing.

Nickel: Thank you so much for your approval of Draco's characterisation. I didn't want to put him back to where he was exactly in the prequel because he's grown up a bit and so he should reflect that. However, it's a well known fact that 90 of men never really grow up so I wanted to make him a little bit snarky as well! Thank you again!

Kermit: Wow you have some idea about Jemmy's parentage? I'm keen to know who you've pegged as his parents. Thank you for your review.

shiroryu of the moon: I'm glad I've lured you away from Anime (at least temporarily) my best friend is quite into it and I have another one who rarely emerges from its clutches. I have nothing particularly against it but I must admit that the plots are usually too odd and convoluted for me to follow! I'm glad I got your sister and yourself screaming over a pair of boxers…because that sounds really cool! I hope you continue reading!

Dracolovesginny: you never have to apologise for reviewing either late or not at all, that you've reviewed so beautifully in the past grants you immunity from my rage! Yeah Draco did spring a little bit of an emotional leak, I think he'll probably fix that for a few chapters before it explodes again! Thank you so much for your kindness about my characters and writing. You're awesome.

Socalgirl: I'm glad you liked the other story and that I have you hooked so early into this one. Thank you so much for reviewing.

Dare2Dream27: Goodness, what a lovely long review, thank you very much for that. So you're another one interested in the Jemmy mystery, I'm so fascinated by how this has evolved. I never meant to cause such controversy! I think you picked up on quite a crucial part of the last chapter. I did want to introduce how wary Ginny is of Dean's love towards her as it will be fairly important later on. The Dean/ring thing will be explained in later chapters, I actually had that all figured out long before I started to write this sequel. There is actually a link in this chapter which will become apparent probably in the next chapter so be prepared! I like your idea about Dean's memory being wiped, that's quite clever, wish I'd thought of it. No, it won't be anything like that. Thank you so much for your review, it was so indepth and helpful to know that people are looking at the complexities (can I say that? It's not like I'm writing a particularly deep piece!).

Thank you to all and goodnight.

Love Jess/star123


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